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WASHINGTON - The CIA and members of Congress said they want to know how a presidential commission unearthed details on intelligence failures about Iraq's prewar weapons programs that previous investigations missed.

Of particular interest is information that emerged in last week's report about how doubts were handled regarding a leading source on Saddam Hussein's alleged mobile biological weapons labs — an Iraqi scientist who defected to Germany, code named "Curveball."

Porter Goss, who became CIA director last September, has instructed officials to determine what happened and why the details did not come to light earlier, said his spokeswoman, Jennifer Millerwise.

"It was an unhappy surprise to the director that his first understanding of this issue was when he first read" the commission's report, Millerwise said Wednesday.

Senate Intelligence Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., also acknowledged President Bush's intelligence commission had details that did not emerge during his committee's yearlong investigation into the Iraq assessments, released last July.

If Bush's intelligence commission learned "something obvious," Roberts said, "we want to make sure the intelligence community does fill in those gaps so we have a clear picture."

Other lawmakers are angrier. "As far as I am concerned, the CIA threw us a curve ball," said Sen. Carl Levin (news, bio, voting record), D-Mich., also a member of the Intelligence Committee.

The White House, Congress and U.S. intelligence agencies have launched a number of investigations into the faulty prewar intelligence on the Iraq threat. The most definitive to date came last week from Bush's intelligence commission.

According to the report, CIA officials tried to tell the agency's top officials that Curveball was a suspected fabricator and may have been mentally unstable. The new information includes an alleged warning in a late-night phone call to the agency's former director, George Tenet.

Tenet and his top deputy have both released statements emphatically denying that they received such warnings. Tenet called it "deeply disturbing" that the information didn't get to him.

Levin wants Tenet to testify under oath. "I don't think the intelligence committee was given some of that detail on Curveball, but I think it should have been," Levin said.

"Tenet said he doesn't remember," Levin said. "Hey, these are life and death decisions. This is what we tell the world. That's not good enough. ... Where is the responsibility?"

U.S. intelligence agencies and the Bush administration have come under fire since 2001 for not sharing enough information with lawmakers who oversee some of the government's most sensitive intelligence activities. Some in Congress have been particularly concerned about U.S. detention policies and the botched Iraq intelligence that was used to justify the invasion.

When asked how the new investigation got more detail, Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record), R-Ariz., and a commission member, said that the panel conducted numerous long interviews. "We did not come up with that information early," McCain said of the information on Curveball.

Last week's report said the Defense Intelligence Agency circulated more than 100 reports from Curveball, with detailed information about mobile biological weapons labs in Iraq.

Curveball was working with German intelligence, and U.S. intelligence had limited access to him. The report said Curveball met once with a defense official and seemed to have a hangover.

The report said CIA officials contended that they tried to raise warnings about Curveball. One unnamed CIA division chief claims to have called Tenet at midnight the night before former Secretary of State Colin Powell gave his address to the United Nations, which provided the Bush administration's case for invading Iraq. The division chief recalled telling Tenet that foreign intelligence officials were concerned about Curveball's credibility.

In an unusual seven-page statement last week, Tenet said his "strong recollection" is that he did not speak with the division chief around midnight.

Tenet also said it was "stunning and deeply disturbing that this information, if true, was never brought forward to me by anyone" when the Iraq intelligence was scrutinized.

Unfortunately not partly because people have become jaded to the fact that we went to war on false intelligence. At this point when everyone knows it and the Admin isn't even held accountable that shows that our priorities in regards to truth have gone out the windows.

At this point the GW Bush could say that we needed to invade Iraq because Saddam was hording cheese and much of America wouldn't care.

Originally posted by Sishir Chang Unfortunately not partly because people have become jaded to the fact that we went to war on false intelligence. At this point when everyone knows it and the Admin isn't even held accountable that shows that our priorities in regards to truth have gone out the windows.

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That's especially true when you consider that 50% of Americans now believe that Bush misled the country on WMD's but re-elected him anyway. Next time the D's should run someone that can beat a candidate that half the country thinks is a liar. It really shouldn't be that hard. What ever happened to that mandate, by the way? Lowest approval ever in a second term prez... half the country thinks he's a liar... way more strongly oppose the centerpiece of his domestic agenda... 2006 ought to be good.

Agreed. Clinton was a gigantic liar. One of the main reasons I never voted for him. But most Bush supporters voted Bush on character and on national security. Considering they now believe he lied on national security, I'd say, at least, his mandate's out the window. And Bush's political "base" isn't happy with him either. He's actually on track to become the least popular second termer ever, base and otherwise. If the Dems can't capitalize, by 06, they're useless. I'm not especially confident. I think Dean's a move in the right direction, but he can't do it all. It'll be an interesting year.

I don't think the Rep base can be shaken... These days, you can proclaim something is black when it's clearly white and Fox News has your back. It takes someone with a Masters in BS dissemination to figure out what's really going on, and if it's not what you want to hear most will just assume the truth is what they want it to be. Don't you know that if the media says something that is opposite what a conservative says, they have a liberal bias?

Besides they have the three magic words... Homosexual, Terrorism, and Taxes.
game. set. match.

One major problems of the democrats is they scare alot of Americans. You walk outside of a Bush rally and it looks like a freak show outside protesting (sorry if that offends anyone). But you have a hippy straight out of the 70's, a kid with green hair, a girl with 1,001 peircings and hollywood wannabe/has-been all screaming that you are wrong/stupid.
Until the democrats can get back to the center (and precisely have a party that middle-america is comfortable with) I don't see them with much of a chance. A majority of americans don't like freaks telling them what to believe, and it doesn't really help to be have an angry freak standing in front leading the demonstrators.

And yes I know the Republicans have freaks too (everything from racists, to too religious, etc) who associate themselves with the party (even the Freaks have to support someone), but the Republicans do a better job of disassocciating themselves. The democrats let the freaks be their voice and their faces to too many people.

You are blatantly wrong. Think of all the remarkably overt pandering the Republicans have done lately, especially wrt Terry Schiavo. Look at the approval numbers for both the Republican Congress and White House. Comprehend reality.

Originally posted by No Worries You are blatantly wrong. Think of all the remarkably overt pandering the Republicans have done lately, especially wrt Terry Schiavo. Look at the approval numbers for both the Republican Congress and White House. Comprehend reality.

Originally posted by Fatty FatBastard Are you ever anywhere but here??? (BBS wise)

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If you mean to ask whether or not I post to other political forums, I don't. If you mean to imply I'm here too much, well, lately I'm here considerably less than at least twenty other posters. I probably drop a post or two here every three or four days lately, so I'm not sure I agree I'm saturating the D&D market. In the last months, you're more likely to find me in the GARM or the Hangout than here. But I get how saying I'm here too much would be easier than addressing my points.

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